Vices
by Fluffy Tranquil
Summary: After publishing his first novel when he was nineteen, Eli has had a very successful career. Now, at age 28, he faces legal troubles, which drag Adam, Fiona, and his parents into a troubling roller-coaster ride. It's up to his former love to fix his mess.


**Song: "Vices" by Brand New! You know me, I always want you to look it up, since listening is very different than just reading!**

_We need vices (oh),_  
><em>We need vices (oh),<em>  
><em>Well you took my hope and my marriage license,<em>  
><em>(where's my head?)<em>

_Those days are dead_  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>Those days are dead<em>  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>Those days are dead<em>  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>We need vices at fifty thousand degrees<em>

_She said goodbye to the ground_  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>And jumped<em>

_I got creative (oh no),_  
><em>To try to kill the major,<em>  
><em>Where is my trigger?<em>  
><em>My mind eraser<em>  
><em>(we sing that so subtle...)<em>

_And that forest burned_  
><em>(you see smoke...)<em>  
><em>That forest burned<em>  
><em>(a halo…)<em>  
><em>That forest burned<em>  
><em>(a halo...)<em>  
><em>We need ten years, everyone, so we can return<em>

_She said goodbye to the ground_  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>And jumped<em>

_We need vices (oh),_  
><em>We need vices (oh),We've done nothing but brandish our disguises<em>

_Those days are dead_  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>Those days are dead<em>  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>Those days are dead<em>  
><em>(forgive me)<em>  
><em>We need vices to wave to the good old days<em>

_She said goodbye to the ground_  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>She said goodbye to the ground<em>  
><em>And jumped<em>

* * *

><p>Eli's fingers tapped on the table in front of him. "She was supposed to be here," he looked at his watch. "twenty minutes ago."<p>

"Relax. She's probably just caught in traffic." Adam took another sip of his water. The waiter came over, asking if the two men were ready to order. "We're waiting on someone."

"My apologies, gentlemen." He walked away.

Eli impatiently tapped his foot.

"Calm down." Adam told him.

Eli lifted his cup to his mouth, proceeding to drink. "Are you sure she'll come?" He asked a few seconds later.

"Sure. I didn't call her for no reason. I doubt she'll let anything as silly as a failed relationship get in the way of her career."

He rolled his eyes. His failed love life was the start of his success. He'd dated other people after Clare, of course, and he was sure she had done the same, but none had lasted. She was his last high school girlfriend, and all of the girls in college just wanted to get into his pants. But after he published his novel, Love Roulette, people were only interested in his money and popularity. The only people he could still trust, besides his parents, who still held their offer of welcoming him to live back home if he ever lost his house, were Adam, who was his editor, and Fiona.

"Eli." Adam whispered. "She's here."

Eli followed Adam's gaze. "Hello, Clare."

"Hi, Eli." She stuck out her hand. He shook it, almost immediately being disappointed that her grasp was light, while his was a bit tighter. "So," she began, taking a seat. "tell me the story of how this mess got started."

Eli opened his mouth to speak, but Adam spoke over him. "I assume you've heard of a book called Love Roulette." It was published under the alias E. Gold, but he was sure that when she saw it, her brain would recognize the name, and memories would flood back.

She nodded. "Yes, I've heard of it."

"And you probably heard that it was a bestseller, correct?"

"Yes."

"And bestsellers make a lot of money, right?"

Again; yes. Not once did she seem annoyed. But, as a lawyer, she did have to deal with a decent amount of cross examination.

"Well, that money has basically supported Eli since college… A few months ago, Eli noticed some money missing from his bank account. We're talking thousands. …Our only hurdle is convincing a room full of people that our former friend, Dakota Meyer, is the culprit."

"Do you have any copies of the checks that were used to purchase these things? Or were they paid for with cash?"

"Um, no. But I can get my hands on them."

"That's good…Do you have any idea how he may have forged your signature or anything?"

"I wrote him a personal check in February. He had to have gotten it from there… Unless he…" Eli put a hand to his head.

Adam continued for him. "We were at a party one night. I vaguely remember Eli being a bit drunk. Dakota was making a few jokes about the money, but everyone just laughed it off. We didn't take any of it seriously at the time, but anything could have come out of Eli's mouth. Anything from pin numbers to where he kept his extra set of house keys or where he has money stashed… Anything and everything."

Clare took a deep breath. "Now that's where we have a problem. If he gave him something, then we'll have to prove that Dakota purposely tried to get Eli drunk. I mean, I doubt he would just start talking about money. Dakota must have coaxed it out of him."

Adam's fingers raked through his hair. "Well, we always go to that bar, and the workers who knows us would assume something was up if we ordered a very large amount of alcohol. But someone could easily lie about that in Eli's favor."

"Hmm…well I'll do some more research on Dakota, and I'll keep in touch." She stood up, bid them both a good day, and walked down the street.

"What the hell am I going to do?"

"Wait for her to find a flaw in any of this." Adam suggested.

Eli growled under his breath, standing up and walking toward his car.

"Where are you going?" Adam asked. "You know we need to pay for our appetizer, right? …Check!" He wasn't going to wait for the waiter, so he placed far than enough bills on the table, before putting on his jacket and heading toward Eli's car.

* * *

><p><strong>So, good? Bad? In Between? Great? :D Any comments, questions, or suggestions? Leave a review down there, please…<strong>

**And yes, I made Love Roulette his novel, though the plot is not the same. I just borrowed the title. And no Jake or Imogen, so make them nonexistent in your minds!**

**UPDATE: I edited this chapter since I noticed a few mistakes. I'll post later today!**


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